PGA Championship will bring big money to Rochester area

Apr. 24, 2013

Grounds crew members, Pat Fisher of Fairport, left, Ramon Segura of Sodus, center, and Rick Kalb, of Farmington, work on the green on the 11th hole at Oak Hill Country Club last week. The crews were putting fresh sand into the green to help firm it up. The PGA Of America is bringing its premier event to Rochester for the third time since 1980. / SHAWN DOWD/ /staff photographer

Staff writer

PGA Championship

$78.1MEstimated amount the 2013 PGA Championship could inject into the area economy, according to Greater Rochester Enterprise.

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Tens of thousands of golf enthusiasts will be thrilled to flock to Pittsford’s Oak Hill Country Club in August to watch Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson and the rest of the greatest golfers in the world compete in the 95th PGA Championship.

However, their excitement will likely pale in comparison to that of local merchants, hoteliers, restaurateurs, and the Rochester workforce who are going to experience a monetary windfall thanks to the PGA Of America bringing its premier event to Rochester for the third time since 1980.

“The economic impact is tremendous, and there’s an unbelievable amount of positive benefits for the community to host any major sporting event,” said Ryan Cannon, the director of the PGA Championship.

Cannon said that over the past 10 years, the championship has generated anywhere from $40 million to $80 million for the host region. According to a study commissioned by Greater Rochester Enterprise, the 2013 event is expected to push the high end of that spectrum.

GRE, an economic development organization focused on promoting the nine-county region as a competitive place for business location and growth, is predicting the tournament could inject $78.1 million into the area economy in the months leading up to, and including, the competition which will be held the week of Aug. 5-11.

“There’s nothing comparable to a major golf championship because people are here for so long and so many people are staying overnight,” said Mark S. Peterson, GRE president and CEO. “Something like the Jazz Festival, you have people coming in, but you don’t have the raw numbers of hotel rooms for an event like this.”

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Peterson said when the PGA of America conducted the Senior PGA Championship at Oak Hill in 2008, the regional impact weighed in at about $50 million. The annual two-week-long Jazz Festival means an estimated $25-30 million for the community. So clearly, the PGA Championship is big business.

“It’s one of the largest sporting events in the world hosted right here,” said Oak Hill member Marty Glavin, who is serving as the tournament chairman. “Rochester will be on display, and it adds to the reputation of Oak Hill; one more major adds to the history of the club, and if we do it well, we’ll be able to make an impression on the PGA and hopefully they’ll come back.”

Using data from past PGA Championship venues, and from PGA of America projections regarding the tournament at Oak Hill, GRE fed the numbers into what Peterson called, “a pretty sophisticated software package” and came up with some intriguing results.

Approximately 198,100 spectators are expected to attend the PGA and based on the varying levels of their ticket purchases, ranging from $25 for an early-week practice round ticket to $425,000 for a corporate chalet accommodating 150 guests, ticket revenue should come in at around $26 million.

A percentage of that money is kept by the PGA of America, some goes to local charities, and some goes to Oak Hill as the host venue. Much of what Oak Hill will take in will go toward paying for club renovations that are underway, meaning local workers will be earning a wage. The study predicts that 1,127 temporary, full- and part-time jobs will be created related to the tournament.

“Part of that money from the tickets stays within the community,” Peterson said. “That’s the way these tournaments are run and one of the reasons they’re so popular (for cities) to be able to try and garner a championship.”

GRE estimates about 52,500 ticket-holders will be non-local and visiting Rochester from outside of 100 miles, and staying here for an estimated two days. Also, about 2,000 non ticket-holders (golfers, their families and guests, PGA staff and officials, and hundreds of media members) will be in town and lodging for an estimated five to seven days, some even longer. That means a boon for area hotels and restaurants.

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The study indicates about 4,900 hotel rooms will be booked at an average rate of $600 per stay (based on approximately 2 1/2nights). Assuming daily spending of $345, non-local ticket-holders will pay approximately $45,281,250 when you factor in ticket sales, hotel/restaurant costs, transportation and merchandise/concessions purchases.

“People from all over the world will stay here,” Peterson said. “The bulk of the people will be from Rochester, Buffalo, Syracuse and New York, but the reality is there will be thousands of spectators who will be coming in and making this a whole week-long event.”

This benefits the region in ancillary ways such as visitors taking wine tours around the Finger Lakes, checking out the museums, playing golf and shopping.

Add it all up, and state and local fiscal revenue is estimated to increase by $7,304,447 from sales, income and other taxes.

“This is a big opportunity for the community,” Peterson said. “The international exposure to our community is another great benefit. The TV exposure, the number of visitors who come from around the world — this might be the first time they’ve been to this region and they’re going to have an experience here and we’re going to do everything we can to make sure it’s a positive one. We have found in the past that people come here and it’s not infrequent that they come back here for a vacation in the future. It’s kind of an undiscovered gem, and I think most of upstate is like that. Once people spend some time here, they’re like, ‘Wow, I had no idea.’ ”